New Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday ruled out formation of a third front ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha elections, saying differences could crop up among various parties on ticket distribution if it takes shape now.

Yadav, however, reiterated that the third front will be formed after elections and claimed the next prime minister will be from among the alliance partners. "The third front formation is not possible now, as differences can crop up among parties on ticket distribution and seat sharing," Yadav told reporters in Delhi.

Yadav said all political parties of the proposed alliance will contest polls on their own strength and then get together after the next general election. He said his party is in touch with CPI-M leader Prakash Karat and CPI leader AB Bardhan over third front formation after polls and have an understanding on this.

"We feel that the third front government should come to power at the Centre. The country's next prime minister will be a third front candidate," he said. Yadav, who has been spearheading the cause of a third front government and aspiring for the top post, said neither the BJP nor the Congress will be able to form the government.

Asked who will be the third front prime ministerial candidate, Yadav said only one prime ministerial candidate has been announced so far, in an apparent reference to BJP's Narendra Modi. "But, the third front candidate will be the next prime minister of the country," he claimed.

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat had recently held a meeting with Yadav and is understood to have discussed the evolving political situation in the wake of the controversy over the ordinance to protect convicted lawmakers. CPI(M) sources said the meeting was essentially to discuss the plans for holding a national convention in the defence of secularism.

The convention is slated to be held on October 30 in Delhi. The sources said the convention will gather Left democratic and secular forces to adopt a joint programme to fight the menace of communalism, especially in the wake of the recent violence in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country.